About Us: The Anglican Church

A living church, faithful to Christian tradition

Anglican churches worldwide are descended from the Church of England. They have a common liturgical and theological heritage, grounded in the Book of Common Prayer. Anglican churches recognize one another, and other churches, as genuine expressions of Christian faith. Anglicanism is both reformed and catholic: reformed because the Church of England was shaped by the Reformation of the 16th century, which emphasized the doctrine of justification by faith alone and the supreme authority of the Scriptures; and catholic because it maintained key traditions of the universal (“catholic”) church, such as consecrating bishops, emphasizing sacramental worship, and appealing to the teaching of the church fathers. Anglicanism is a particular way of being a Christian, in continuity with ancient Christian tradition. That way now represents 85 million people worldwide. You can read Anglican news from around the world here and here.

Anglican congregations belong to “dioceses,” areas cared for by the ministry of a bishop, and “provinces,” which are groups of dioceses. Our diocese is CANA East. CANA began in 2006 when, in response to concerns that the Episcopal Church of the United States had departed from biblical teaching, the Church of Nigeria sent a missionary bishop to the United States to care for Nigerian Anglicans in America, and to care for American Anglicans who, for reasons of conscience, could no longer remain in the Episcopal Church. CANA has continued to grow, and was a founding diocese of the Anglican Church in North America.